The Apprentice (2024)

Director Ali Abbasi. Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova. Rated R. 122 min. Biography, Drama.

• This movie, about the early days of Donald J. Trump in the 70s and 80s, was widely released just a few weeks before the November 2024 election. So one would assume it's a piece a political propaganda to hurt Trump's chances of winning (and we all saw how well that went). For this reason, I intentionally postponed watching it to after the elections, to see if it contained any artistic merit regardless of the political atmosphere. To my surprise, it did.
• The Apprentice is directed by Ali Abbasi, a Swedish-based Persian director whose previous disconcerting film, Holy Spider (2022), was about the true story of a serial killer who committed crimes based on a blind ideology, and by the end of the movie, you're not sure if the criminal is driven by his own intent, or is merely a product of his environment - the same concept we see in The Apprentice. The young Trump tries to make his own under the condescending stare of his rich father, until he meets the lawyer Roy Kohn, who as IMDb puts it: "... personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues - from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump."
• The ideology taught by Kohn (and later taken credit by Trump in his book, "The Art of the Deal") is clear: 1. Attack, attack, attack. 2. Admit nothing, deny everything. 3. Claim victory, and never admit defeat. The film shows how Trump thrived using these basic principles, and everything else became secondary. As very well symbolized in Trump getting a liposuction and scalp reconstructive surgery, this is a Frankenstein story - a creator creates the creature, and the creature later destroys the creator. Considering what we know now, the narrative does not sound too fictitious. 
• With grainy cinematography, flashy editing, and a musical score eerily reminiscent of none other than Brian DePalma's Scarface, the movie is incredible in establishing the feeling of 1970s Manhattan, and Sabastian Stan ("Winter Soldier" in the Marvel movies, and Tommy Lee in Hulu's Pamela Anderson biopic) is unbelievable at re-enacting the real life character's mannerisms, gestures and hand movements. Watch this actor - he will be flying high.

MoGo's rating: 8/10